Thanks... I might attempt to boot from this PCI card then and keep my RAID0 where it is connected to my motherboard... Buying a Raptor and this card seems doable...
One poster claims that it is the 3114R, but if it is not, it will work fine for connecting a Raptor, right?
I am sure I can search for this answer, and I have likely read through threads on this topic last year when I pondered buying a Raptor, but what will be the impact of buying a Raptor over a 200GB 8MB cache WD? After a fight with my wife about a new HDD, the $100 vs. ~$200 would make my home life worth while... but if a Raptor is worth not having sex for a month, well, I can take it.
There's no such thing as a Sil3114R chip. Silicon image don't make RAID controllers, they make SATA controllers. All RAID controllers are is essentially a hard drive controller with a fancy BIOS hooked on to specify the disk access patterns. The "R" in his model specifications merely denotes the difference in the BIOS for each controller. Software RAID means there isn't an EPROM with the disk access patterns on it hooked up to the controller so if you want to run RAID the disk access patterns have to be determined at the OS level. Older non-RAID controller cards could be relatively easily modified and flashed with the RAID BIOS to turn a $20 controller card into a $100 RAID card.
You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months. If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.